Last Patrol Vietnam Memorial Wall Wickham Park

NYPD Officer shot himself in police parking lot!

Cop fatally shoots himself in his car outside NYPD facility
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
By THOMAS TRACY and CHELSIA ROSE MARCIUS
APR 20, 2018

"Your job requires that you spend your day helping others. But before you can take care of anyone else, you must first take care of yourself, so please, remember, if you need it, help is here, and help is available," O'Neill said.

A troubled on-duty NYPD cop fatally shot himself while parked outside a department facility in the Bronx Friday, authorities said.

He's the fourth NYPD officer to take his own life in as many months, police said.

First responders rushed to an NYPD Auto Crime and Narcotics Division facility in Wakefield about 10:50 a.m., where the mortally wounded officer was found sitting in his personal vehicle in the parking lot.

Officers rushed him to Jacobi Medical Center, but he could not be saved. His name was not immediately disclosed.

Police sources said the cop worked in the Bronx, but it was not immediately clear if he was assigned to the Auto Crime and Narcotics Division.

Cops were first alerted to the incident by Mount Vernon police who had received a 911 call from a panicked relative, who said the cop was planning to harm himself, police sources said.

The cop is the fourth NYPD officer to take his own life this year.
read more here

Deported Gulf War Marine Came Back in Casket

This deported Marine veteran came home the only way he could – in a casket
Fresno Bee
Carmen George
April 20, 2018

REEDLEY
Veteran Lance Cpl. Enrique Salas' flag-draped casket was loaded into a hearse with a Marine Corps seal and two miniature American flags protruding from either window.

Salas finally made it home to the central San Joaquin Valley the only way he could.

The Persian Gulf War veteran, who was deported to Mexico in 2006, was buried with military honors in a Reedley cemetery on Friday beside his younger brother, another fallen Marine.

"My parents gave two of their children to the Marine Corps, and now they've lost both of us," Salas once told the American Civil Liberties Union for a report titled "Discharged, then Discarded: How U.S. veterans are banished by the country they swore to protect."
read more here

PTSD help did not come for Officer Miguel Grijalva

Officer Down

As a dispatcher, the first signal you learn — 10-24 — is also the last one you ever want to use: officer down/officer needs assistance.

Just wondering why it is so easy to understand a wounded officer needs help as soon as possible for other things, but not for PTSD. 

Family sues City of Lompoc over police officer's suicide
KSBY News
By Matt Van Slyke
Posted: Apr 21, 2018

The lawsuit also alleges Officer Grijalva had been drinking excessively and cried for hours in his supervisors' office on multiple occasions but supervisors allowed him to continue working.

A year after Lompoc police officers began mourning the death of Officer Miguel Grijalva, his family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Lompoc and high-ranking members of the Lompoc Police Department.

The lawsuit filed Friday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court claims the police department denied officers medical and psychological benefits and the lack of services ultimately lead to Grijalva's death.

Officer Grijalva reportedly took his own life while off duty. He had been with the department for three years. Prior to that, he served in the United States Marine Corps.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran Carries Memorial of Lost Lives

Vietnam vet’s tattoo honors lost comrades
Ocala Star Banner
By Andy Fillmore / Correspondent
Posted Apr 20, 2018

Collie said he has post traumatic stress disorder and continues to have flashbacks about horrific sights in the war, from Vietnamese children wired with hand grenades approaching American troops to “eight hour snakes” that hung from trees in the jungle and caused death within eight hours if you were bitten. He said sometimes even smells have been known to trigger PTSD, like a match bringing back memories of the scent of gunpowder.

“The tattoo is a memorial to my brothers and sisters who never came home,” said John Collie.

Vietnam War veteran John Collie carries an ever-present reminder of his lost comrades.

Collie, 66, has a tattoo that covers his back and depicts four Vietnam-era Huey helicopters, a POW camp tower, a silhouette of a prisoner of war and sharpened cane poles piercing a suspended skull. Flowing tattooed script across his shoulder blades reads “Land of the Free, Because of the Brave.”

“The tattoo is a memorial to my brothers and sisters who never came home,” said Collie, adding that the “masterpiece” was done by artist Brian Adams and took four hours to complete in one sitting

Collie served with the 173rd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War for 18 months after boot camp in 1971. He said he left most of his military connected papers and decorations for his service at the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall when the memorial was on display in St. Petersburg.
read more here

Disabled Veteran needed new shower...contractor took money after gutting bathroom

Action Report: Handyman takes money, leaves disabled vet without a working shower
WLOX News
By AJ Giardina, Sports Anchor/Action Reporter
April 19th 2018

GULFPORT, MS (WLOX)
Sixty-year-old Army Veteran James Taylor is confined to a wheelchair and was hoping to have a roll-in accessible shower built in his home.

He says a real estate agent recommended a handyman. "They came right over, about a day later. Went in, look at it. We got it," said Taylor.

He recalled giving the man a thousand dollars down to begin the work. "They took the old tub out, the old shower out and that's it, " Taylor described.

Taylor says the workers left the job three weeks ago and returned on Monday to pick up a power saw. He told a neighbor about the job left undone.

"She came over the same day, went up in there...like, to cry and said Mr. Taylor they just messed you up, "Taylor said. "They just did a chop chop job. This wasn't going to work, no way."
read more here

What this guy "knows" is wrong but press didn't care

I totally lost it earlier today when I read another news report with someone claiming that bombastic number of "22 a day" referring to veterans taking their lives. How many more times will it take for them to stop using veterans like that? How many more times do reporters have to get embarrassed for not knowing anything about any of this?
This is what I wrote earlier on Google+

"How the hell do people keep getting attention for getting it wrong? Is anyone paying attention to what is real anymore? What this guys "knows" is wrong and as for the "a lot" part, we're looking at over 70 a day and I actually bothered to put it all together because I read the damn reports!!! Good Lord! Nothing will change as long as people keep doing what is easy."

And this is the reason I wrote it.

“I know, it’s a lot,” said Joseph Palesano, after telling a group in attendance at Wednesday’s Kiwanis Club meeting in the basement of Calvary Presbyterian Church in South Pasadena that 22 veterans lose their lives on average to suicide everyday.

So, not to cut through all the crap that is out there, here are the facts.

The "22 a day" rant came from the first VA suicide report, which stated clearly that it was limited data from just 21 states. Not 50, not including all veterans in those numbers and no, not just veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Also notice this on page 18

The other fact is both reports also stated that majority of veterans they knew about committing suicide were over the age of 50!

This is from the second study, where they had more data, but as you will see, they still didn't have all of it.

In 2001, Veterans accounted for 12.1 percent of the U.S. adult population and 23 percent of all suicides among U.S. adults. Between 2001 and 2014, there were decreases in both the proportion of U.S. adults who were Veterans (8.5 percent in 2014) and the proportion of adult suicide decedents who were Veterans (17.8 percent in 2014). However, changes in the proportion of U.S. adults who were Veterans or the proportion of adults who died by suicide and were Veterans leave gaps in our understanding of changes in rates of suicide among Veterans over time. 

Here is a list from every state on the data you need to know. Why? Because Death Certificate rules on "military service" vary from state to state. Just an example, California and Illinois just passed legislation last year to add it to their Death Certificates. In other words, no one knows how many in states like that.

Speaking of that, if a veteran ended up kicked out instead of being helped to heal, they were not counted at all.

Veterans Voice Suicide Concerns

Representatives of the organization Wellness Works spoke at this week’s South Pasadena Kiwanis Meeting 

It’s an alarming number that members of the Wellness Works organization hope will dwindle over time.“I know, it’s a lot,” said Joseph Palesano, after telling a group in attendance at Wednesday’s Kiwanis Club meeting in the basement of Calvary Presbyterian Church in South Pasadena that 22 veterans lose their lives on average to suicide everyday.That’s everyday he reminded those taking in his somber message. “It’s too many,” he said, following his presentation. “That’s why we’re trying to do something about it.”

Now, how about they start with actually reading the reports before they go to the press? How about they actually study what has been done, what worked and what failed, you know, like when groups decided that older veterans did not need any help, so they left the off the to do list?

How about reporters actually learn some facts or even ask these people what the hell they are doing with the money, when all they seem to be doing is raising money and getting attention for doing that?

I guess I stopped going after them for far too long! It all piled up and exploded. Plus add in none of them are talking about the number of suicides within the military.

Make sure members of Congress give their benefits up first!

It is no secret how I feel about politicians. One huge reason why I do not post on any of them, is none of them have lived up to what this country deserves. It makes it worse, when they do not live up to what veterans deserve!!!

I am limited on what I want to say at this moment, so, unlike most of my rants, it will be very short and simple.

The next time you hear any politician talk about doing harm to our veterans, by cutting their benefits, raising co-pays, taking about sending them into the private healthcare system the rest of us have to deal with, basically disrespecting the fact these veterans were made promises for their service, remember this.

When members of Congress, with the authority over the VA, fail to do their duty, they still get to retire with full benefits they were promised. They get their healthcare taken of. It would take an act of Congress to take away anything from them. 

Why should they reward themselves after betraying our veterans? Privatizing the VA? Cutting benefits from older veterans? Increasing fees? Decreasing coverage for Medicare and Medicaid? Cutting Social Security?

If they try to cut anything from our veterans, make sure members of Congress, including those who retired, give their benefits up first!

Repeat Reports Ignored on Repeat Deployments

It is almost as if we have been living in the Twilight Zone! News comes out explaining something, then nothing changes, but people end up wanting an explanation all over again!

CBS Twilight Zone

Repeat Iraq Tours Raise Risk of PTSD, Army Finds
Washington Post
By Ann Scott Tyson
Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 20, 2006; Page A19

U.S. soldiers serving repeated Iraq deployments are 50 percent more likely than those with one tour to suffer from acute combat stress, raising their risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Army's first survey exploring how today's multiple war-zone rotations affect soldiers' mental health........and read the rest here because the link is still live.

By 2007, a soldier was faced with his 5th deployment, along with many more. 

Soldier who fought fifth deployment to war deemed medically unfit

Lawyer says soldier wants honorable discharge and release from IRRBy Lisa BurgessStars and Stripes Mideast editionAugust 16, 2007
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Florida reservist who asked federal courts to block the Army from sending him to Iraq on a fifth deployment was excused from active service after being found medically unfit. He is still seeking an honorable discharge to prevent another call-up, according to his lawyer.
“Now we’re working to put the icing on the cake and get him out of the IRR,” or Individual Ready Reserve, Fayetteville, N.C.-based attorney Mark Waple said.
Sgt. Erik Botta, 26, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., won’t be finished with his eight-year obligation until October 2008, so he is asking for the discharge to ensure he will not get another call-up to Iraq, Waple said. 

read more here

A Fort Riley soldier was sent back after two months of being home, even though he had been diagnosed with PTSD. An Army Ranger was killed in Afghanistan on his 7th tour.

But while ignoring the risk of redeployments, they extended those deployments.

General Carter Ham, who would later talk about his own battle with PTSD, wanted 2 years in between deployments.

Oh well, I could keep going with this, but at least now you know, that what you are about to read is not new. Since they kept doing it, not matter what evidence came out stating it was a dangerous thing to do, they still did it!

Suicide risk rises with quick repeat deployments, study shows
The new way of war might be over-stressing soldiers
NBC News
by Maggie Fox
Apr.19.2018

Those re-deployed within six months or less were 60 percent more likely to attempt suicide.

Soldiers are more at risk of suicide when they’re repeatedly deployed with six months or less between rotations, and when they’re sent to war too soon after they join the service, new research shows.

Such quick turnarounds have become common as the U.S. sends combat troops to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Of the 1.3 million or so active duty military personnel, about 160,000 are permanently stationed overseas, according to the federal government’s Defense Manpower Data Center.

At the same time, suicide rates have soared among veterans. On average, 20 veterans a day died by suicide in 2014, and many more attempted suicide, the Veterans Affairs Department says.

“Rates of suicidal behaviors, including suicide deaths, attempts, and ideation, among U.S. Army soldiers increased considerably during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Dr. Robert Ursano of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences wrote in a report published Wednesday.

Ursano and colleagues studied a group of such soldiers: 593 men and women in the U.S. Army who had been deployed twice and who attempted suicide between 2004 and 2009. They were looking for specific factors affecting suicide risk.
read more here

Reports of Veteran Navy Pilot Landed Southwest Plane...yes she did!

Tammie Jo Shults, who landed crippled Southwest plane, was one of first female fighter pilots in U.S. Navy
NBC News
by Elizabeth Chuck and Shamar Walters
Apr.18.2018

Navy pilot Tammie Jo Shults in a photo from the 1990s. Courtesy of Linda Maloney

The pilot who coolly landed a Southwest Airlines plane after one of the jet's engines failed and torpedoed shrapnel through a window midflight has gone against the odds before.

Identified by The Associated Press as Tammie Jo Shults, she wasted no time steering the plane into a rapid descent toward safety when chaos broke out shortly after takeoff from New York — maintaining her composure even as passengers reported from the cabin that a woman had been partially sucked out of a shattered window.

“We have part of the aircraft missing, so we’re going to need to slow down a bit,” she’s heard calmly telling air traffic controllers in audio transmissions after reporting the aircraft's engine failure.

“Could you have medical meet us there on the runway as well? We’ve got injured passengers,” Shults then requests.

A air traffic controller asks her if her plane is on fire, to which Shults calmly replies: “No, it’s not on fire, but part of it’s missing. They said there’s a hole, and — uh — someone went out.”
read more here

Fire officials are sounding the alarm about PTSD,

Minnesota firefighters grapple with 'silent epidemic' of PTSD
Star Tribune
By Hannah Covington
APRIL 18, 2018

Fire officials are sounding the alarm about PTSD, suicide trends.

The nightmares still sometimes rouse Brian Cristofono from sleep.

ELIZABETH FLORES – STAR TRIBUNE
Gallery: Brian Cristofono spoke with firefighters from the Brooklyn Center Fire Department after he gave a presentation on his PTSD, Monday, March 26, 2018 in Plymouth, MN. Traumas from being a firefighter, the one he dreamed of as a kid, led to a severe PTSD diagnosis, costing him both his marriage and his work. In his 13 years on the job, three colleagues killed themselves. Twice he put a gun to his own head. Now, Cristofono is sharing his story about the plight firefighters face and the lack of job coverage for those who suffer from PTSD in Minnesota. Nationwide, firefighters are more likely to take their own lives than die in the line of duty. Like other first responders, they're more than twice as likely to commit suicide than the general population. In Minnesota, momentum is slowly building to address these troubling trends, with Cristofono as a leading voice.

Even now, nearly two years after the last calls for help came in, ghosts from his days as a firefighter and paramedic are tough to shake. Babies he couldn’t save. Parents he struggled to comfort. Crash victims beyond reviving.

“They leave scars,” said Cristofono, 42. “The job can really just be a dark look at life.”

Traumas from his job — the one he dreamed of getting as a kid — led to a severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis, costing him his marriage and causing him to retire from the St. Paul fire department in 2017. During his 13 years on the job with various departments, three colleagues killed themselves. Twice, Cristofono put a gun to his own head.

Researchers estimate that anywhere from 7 to 37 percent of firefighters have PTSD. A study from Florida State University found that nearly half of firefighters have had suicidal thoughts and that about 1 in 5 have made plans to take their own lives.
read more here

Death of Chief Petty Officer Under Investigation

Navy identifies man killed in shooting at Ewa Beach home
Associated Press
April 18, 2018

HONOLULU (AP) — The Navy has identified a man who was killed in a shooting Sunday at an Ewa Beach home.

The Navy said 41-year-old Chief Petty Officer John Ellsworth Hasselbrink, a submariner who served 22 years at Pearl Harbor, was killed in the shooting.

Hasselbrink was shot while trying to open the door of a 33-year-old Ewa Beach resident’s house in the middle of the night, according to police reports.

The resident was arrested but released Monday night without charges, pending further investigation.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet submarine force, citing police reports, said Hasselbrink had been attempting “to enter a residence other than his own by mistake.”

He died at the scene.
read more here

Veteran Confronts His Own Trauma With a Camera

An Army Veteran Confronts His Own Trauma With a Camera
New York Times
By Finbarr O’Reilly
April 18, 2018

While undertaking treatment last year, Mr. McCoy made a series of black and white pictures of other veterans attending the program, including the shot of the two men sleeping on the bus, and another of his own reflection in the black marble memorial with Pfc. Albert M. Nelson’s name.

Khalid, an Iraq War Marine Corp veteran, showing his tattoo reading “lost soul.”

Credit Michael A. McCoy

It was a cold, sunny day last spring when retired U.S. Army Specialist Michael McCoy visited the war memorial in Cumberland, Md., to look for the name of Pfc. Albert M. Nelson.

Mr. McCoy, who grew up in West Baltimore, and Mr. Nelson, who was from West Philadelphia, became close friends in 2006 just before Mr. McCoy’s second of two yearlong deployments to Iraq. Mr. Nelson was a bit of a joker and, at 31, a few years older than the other soldiers. He was a big brother figure, well liked, especially by Mr. McCoy.

“We used to talk about hanging out in Philly when we got home,” he said. “We never got that chance.”

Mr. Nelson died in Ramadi on Dec. 4, 2006, from wounds sustained in a combat episode that, according to Salon, may have involved friendly fire and an attempted cover-up by the military.
read more here

70 Year Old Vietnam Veteran Tortured and Murdered

VIETNAM WAR VETERAN TORTURED, MURDERED BY COUPLE CAUGHT FLEEING TO EL SALVADOR, POLICE SAY
Newsweek
BY BENJAMIN FEARNOW
4/17/18

A couple in California has been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly torturing and killing a Vietnam War veteran in pursuit of his financial information, police said in a press conference Monday.

Jose and Stacie Mendoza allegedly restrained, beat and suffocated Kenneth Coyle, 70, at his home in Hanford, California, on April 5 or 6, while interrogating him about his finances, according to police. The coroner's office has yet to announce Coyle's cause of death, but police said they suspect blunt force trauma and suffocation.
read more here

Marine with untreated PTSD shot neighbors TV?

Alleged shooter of TV is veteran with PTSD, prosecutors say
Herald Washington
By Scott North
Tuesday, April 17, 2018

The Darrington man, a former Marine, appears to be struggling with mental health issues.

EVERETT — A Darrington man appears to have been wrestling with mental challenges and substance abuse before he allegedly forced his way into his neighbors’ home March 19 and shot a big-screen television.

Lance “Doug” Cochran, 36, was the man in the mask who broke into a house in the 6200 block of 473rd Drive NE and opened fire, deputy prosecutor Andrew Alsdorf said in Snohomish County Superior Court documents. Cochran is now charged with second-degree assault and first-degree burglary, both felonies.

Cochran served in the Marine Corps from 1999 through 2008. He’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder for two years but has not sought treatment, Alsdorf wrote.

The defendant’s family and friends say he became unstable and violent after a death in his family and an unwelcome job reassignment. He stopped going to work, “drank beer all day long” and used methamphetamine with a neighbor.
read more here

Operation Proper Exit "mission to find closure"

Leaving the AOR on their own terms

By Tech. Sgt. Louis Vega Jr
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
Published April 11, 2018

The combat veterans were escorted by Medal of Honor recipient and wounded warrior, Master Sgt. (Ret.) Leroy Petry. This event was Petry’s 24th trip escorting service members on behalf of OPE. Since the inception of OPE in 2009, more than 120 injured service members have returned to Afghanistan and Iraq as part of the unique initiative designed for wounded service members who are thriving in recovery and are capable of returning to theater.

Tech. Sgt. Louis Vega Jr.

SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Eight wounded warriors, who have visible and invisible injuries from combat, were on a mission to find closure by returning to the place of their traumatic incident through Operation Proper Exit, April 4-8, 2018.

The combat veterans briefly visited an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia and departed on a U.S. Air Force C-130 enroute to Bagram, Afghanistan to take part in the 24th iteration of the event. The participants shared their stories of resiliency with deployed service members at multiple forward operating bases in the area of responsibility and returned to the site of their combat injury or the medical facility where they were treated.

“I’ve been given an opportunity to go back to complete my mission and walk off the battlefield with my head held high,” said Spc. Justin Lane, former U.S. Army combat engineer.


The journey not only provided closure for those who suffered obvious physical injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder, it also allowed a unique perspective from service members in support elements.read more here

Female Soldiers Attacked Over Parking?

PREGNANT SOLDIER, HER SON YELLS HOMOPHOBIC SLURS 
KMIR News 
Sara Sanchez 
APRIL 16, 2018 

Cell phone video of a woman appearing to lunge and swing at two female soldiers in a Georgia restaurant has gone viral. The video surfaced on Instagram.

According to the local Sheriff’s Office, it all started over a parking space. Bibb County Sheriff’s investigators say it happened on Saturday at a Cheddar’s Restaurant in Macon, Georgia. The video shows a blonde woman who has been identified as 72-year-old Judy Tucker.

According to NBC affiliate WMGT, the soldiers, Treasure Sharpe and Stephanie Mitchell, told deputies Tucker’s son originally confronted them outside the restaurant and told them they need to learn how to park. A police report claims the son used homophobic slurs towards the woman. WMGT says Mitchell then tried to calm the son down. read more here

Death of Fort Polk Soldier under investigation

Fort Polk soldier fatally shot
American Press
Pamela Sleezer
April 17, 2018

18 year-old Pvt. Jacob S. Malcolm of Hedgesville, W. Va. Malcolm enlisted with the Army in February of 2017 and at the time of his death was stationed at Fort Polk

Fort Polk officials are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a soldier who was fatally shot on Thursday.

According to spokesperson Kim Reischling, the soldier suffered a fatal gunshot wound at a residence at the Vernon Parish installation and was pronounced dead by the Vernon Parish deputy coroner at 7:04 p.m.

She said the gunshot wound was not self-inflicted.
read more here

Gov. Greitens under investigation for using Mission Continues?

Missouri attorney general accuses Greitens of misusing charity donor list
CNN
By Veronica Stracqualursi
April 17, 2018

Greitens, an Iraq veteran, founded The Mission Continues in 2007 but left the charity in 2014. Questions have been raised about his ties to the charity since at least October 2016, when The Associated Press reported that he had raised nearly $2 million for his campaign from donors who also gave significant amounts to The Mission Continues.

Washington (CNN)Embattled Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, who is already facing calls to resign over an extramarital affair and abuse allegations, was accused Tuesday by the state's attorney general of obtaining a charity donor list without permission.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley announced that his office had "uncovered evidence of wrongdoing" by the governor that he could be charged or prosecuted for related to an investigation into a veterans charity Greitens founded.

Hawley told reporters at a news conference that his office had found evidence that the governor obtained an electronic donor list from the charity The Mission Continues without permission and used the internal list for "political fundraising."

"If proven, these acts could amount to the unauthorized taking and use of property -- in this case electronic property. Under Missouri law, this is known as computer tampering and given the value of the list in question, it is a felony," Hawley said.
read more here